The Complete Guide to Rega Planar Turntables: Which One Is Right for You?
The Complete Guide to Rega Planar Turntables: Which One Is Right for You?
Why Rega?
If you've been researching turntables for more than five minutes, you'll have encountered the Rega name. There's a reason for that. Since 1973, Rega have been making turntables in Southend-on-Sea with a singular obsession: getting as much music as possible out of a vinyl record. No marketing gimmicks, no unnecessary complexity — just beautifully engineered, hand-built British turntables that make records sound the way they're supposed to.
At Martins Hi-Fi, we've been selling Rega for many years. We know the range inside out, and we're genuinely enthusiastic about what they do. This guide is designed to help you find the right Rega turntable for your budget, your system, and the way you listen — and to match it with the right cartridge, phono stage, and tonearm to get the best from it.
Understanding the Rega Philosophy
Before diving into the products, it helps to understand why Rega turntables are designed the way they are — because it's different from most of the competition.
The conventional wisdom in turntable design used to favour heavy, massive plinths. Rega's founder, Roy Gandy, challenged this directly. His analysis showed that mass stores and re-releases energy — colouring the sound. His solution was to minimise mass in the signal path and make what remained as rigid as possible, so musical energy flows through with minimal interference rather than being stored and released as distortion.
This philosophy is visible in everything Rega makes: lightweight but incredibly stiff tonearms, precision-engineered plinths with deliberate structural cutouts, ultra-tight bearing tolerances, and motors specified for minimum vibration. Every design decision points in the same direction: let the music through.
The Rega Planar Series: A Turntable for Every Budget
Rega Planar 1 — £329
The turntable that introduces thousands of people to serious vinyl playback every year.
The Planar 1 comes complete with Rega's RB110 tonearm and the Carbon MM cartridge fitted and ready to go. Connect it to a phono input, lower the stylus, and you'll immediately hear the difference a properly engineered turntable makes. The phenolic resin platter, 24V motor, and precision main bearing are all of a standard that rivals competitors at higher prices.
Available in Matt White, Matt Black, and Walnut Effect.
This is where we'd recommend starting if you're new to vinyl or returning to it after a long break. It's a genuine, no-compromise Rega — not a budget product with the badge on.
Buy the Rega Planar 1 at Martins Hi-Fi — £329
Rega Planar 1 Plus — £399
Everything the Planar 1 offers, with one important addition: a built-in moving magnet phono stage. If your amplifier doesn't have a dedicated phono input — and most modern amplifiers don't — the Planar 1 Plus removes the need to buy a separate phono stage, making it an excellent all-in-one starting point.
Same RB110 tonearm, same Carbon cartridge, same finish options as the Planar 1.
Buy the Rega Planar 1 Plus at Martins Hi-Fi — £399
Rega Planar 2 — From £525
The Planar 2 is a meaningful step up from the Planar 1. The upgraded RB220 tonearm has tighter bearing tolerances and a more sophisticated design than the RB110, and the 10mm glass platter adds mass and improves rotational stability compared to the phenolic platter in the Planar 1.
The Carbon cartridge is included. Available in High-Gloss White, Black, Red, and Walnut Effect — the gloss finishes giving the Planar 2 a noticeably more premium appearance than the entry model.
If you're buying your first proper turntable and can stretch the budget, the Planar 2 is well worth the extra. The improvement in bass definition and midrange clarity over the Planar 1 is clearly audible.
Buy the Rega Planar 2 at Martins Hi-Fi — From £525
Rega Planar 3 — From £695
The Planar 3 is the most important model in Rega's range. It's the turntable that established Rega's international reputation in the late 1970s and it remains their best-known product — continuously evolved but never abandoned.
The current Planar 3 features:
- RB330 tonearm — a significant leap over the RB220, with improved internal wiring, tighter bearing tolerances, and a more sophisticated bias adjustment
- 12mm polished glass platter — heavier and more inert than the Planar 2's platter
- Double brace technology — a brace connecting the tonearm mounting to the motor housing, dramatically stiffening the structure and reducing the transmission of motor vibration to the tonearm
- Neo PSU compatible — the Planar 3 can be upgraded with Rega's Neo power supply for improved motor control
Available in High-Gloss White, Black, Red, and Light Oak Effect.
The Planar 3 is the point at which Rega's philosophy really begins to reveal its full potential. Pair it with a quality cartridge and phono stage, and you have a turntable that will satisfy for many years.
Buy the Rega Planar 3 at Martins Hi-Fi — From £695
Also available:
Rega Planar 3 ECO Special Edition — £499 — An exceptional value special edition of the Planar 3 for those who want the RB330 tonearm experience at a reduced price. (Not always available)
Rega Planar 3 RS Edition — £1,099 — The RS Edition comes with the Nd5 cartridge fitted and the Neo Mk2 PSU included, in a distinctive metallic finish. A complete, optimised Planar 3 system in one purchase.
Rega Planar 6 — From £1,280
The Planar 6 is where the range takes a significant step forward. It introduces the Tancast 8 polyurethane foam plinth — an ultra-lightweight, ultra-rigid material that is dramatically better at managing resonances than the conventional materials used in most turntables. The result is a plinth that weighs very little but stores almost no energy.
Key features:
- RB330 tonearm with improved internal wiring
- 16mm dual-layer glass platter — considerably heavier and more stable than the Planar 3's
- Neo PSU included as standard — precision motor control that reduces speed variation and motor-induced noise
- Tancast 8 plinth — Rega's proprietary foam material, lighter and stiffer than MDF
Available in Matt White and Matt Polaris Grey.
The Planar 6 is where many serious vinyl listeners arrive and stay. The improvement over the Planar 3 in bass definition, low-level detail, and the three-dimensional quality of the soundstage is very clearly audible.
Buy the Rega Planar 6 at Martins Hi-Fi — From £1,280
Rega Planar 6 RS Edition — £2,000 — The RS Edition adds a performance-matched cartridge and further specification upgrades in a special finish. Ask us for details.
Rega Planar 8 — From £1,970
The Planar 8 introduces Rega's RB880 tonearm — a major step above the RB330 in bearing quality, arm tube construction, and internal wiring. The 18mm triple-layer glass platter is the heaviest and most inert in the Planar series, and the Tancast 8 plinth is refined further.
Key features:
- RB880 tonearm — reference tonearm, one step below the flagship RB3000
- 18mm triple-layer glass platter
- Neo PSU included
- Tancast 8 plinth with further stiffening refinements
Available in Matt White and Matt Polaris Grey.
At this level, the turntable is no longer the limiting factor in most analogue systems. The Planar 8 will reveal the full capability of a quality moving coil cartridge and phono stage, and reward upstream improvements as they're made.
Buy the Rega Planar 8 at Martins Hi-Fi — From £1,970
Rega Planar 10 — From £4,370
The Planar 10 is Rega's current production flagship — the turntable at which no significant compromise has been made. The ceramic oxide diamond-cut platter is a radical departure from glass, providing a platter of extraordinary rigidity and inertness. The RB3000 tonearm is Rega's finest production arm, and the dedicated P10 PSU provides the most sophisticated motor control available in the Planar range.
Key features:
- RB3000 tonearm — Rega's reference production tonearm
- 18mm ceramic oxide diamond-cut platter — harder and more inert than glass
- P10 PSU — dual-speed precision power supply
- Ultra-thin skeletal plinth — the most refined expression of Rega's lightweight philosophy
Available in Matt White and Matt Polaris Grey.
The Planar 10 is a world-class analogue front end. Partnered with the Aphelion 2 or Ania Pro cartridge and the Aura or AOS phono stage, it creates a system that will satisfy the most demanding listener.
Rega Naia — £10,500
The Naia is Rega's statement turntable — a limited-production, cost-no-object design that represents the absolute ceiling of their thinking about vinyl playback.
It uses the RB Titanium tonearm — the most expensive and most refined arm Rega makes — mounted on a plinth skinned in graphene-impregnated carbon fibre. The 23mm ceramic oxide platter, triple EBLT belt drive system, and the level of assembly care that goes into every Naia make this one of the finest turntables in the world at any price.
If you're asking whether the Naia is for you, it probably isn't — yet. But if you've arrived at the point where nothing else is quite enough, we'd love to talk to you about it.
Buy the Rega Naia at Martins Hi-Fi — £10,500
Rega System One — £999
Not strictly part of the Planar series, but worth mentioning here: the System One bundles a Rega turntable with the Rega io integrated amplifier and Rega Kyte loudspeakers in a single, complete, perfectly matched system. Everything works together from the first listen, with no guesswork about compatibility.
If you want to start playing vinyl without researching every component individually, the System One is an outstanding way in.
Rega Tonearms: Upgrading What You Have
One of the most cost-effective upgrades for an older Rega turntable is fitting a new tonearm. Rega's arm mounting dimensions have remained consistent for decades, meaning a current RB330 or RB880 can be fitted to a Planar 3 or Planar 6 from many years ago.
Tonearm | Price | Suitable For
- RB220 £265 | Planar 1 / Planar 2 upgrades
- RB330 £435 | Planar 3 / Planar 6 upgrades
- RB880 £765 | Planar 8 upgrades
- RB3000 £1,500 | Planar 10 upgrades / high-end installations
- RB Titanium | £4,200 | Naia / reference installations
If you have an older Rega and want to know what a tonearm upgrade would do for it, give us a call. We've fitted many over the years and the improvement is frequently dramatic.
Rega Cartridges: The Critical Interface
The cartridge is where the needle meets the record — and its quality determines more about what you hear than almost any other component in an analogue system. Rega designs and manufactures their own cartridges to work optimally with their tonearms. Here's the full current range:
Moving Magnet Cartridges
Moving magnet (MM) cartridges are compatible with any standard phono input. They're the natural choice for Planar 1, 2, and 3 owners, and for those whose phono stage is MM-only.
Supplied with the Planar 1 and Planar 2. A genuine entry-level cartridge with a carbon cantilever and elliptical stylus. Excellent for those starting out.
The first step into Rega's Nd series. Bonded elliptical stylus with neodymium magnet and aluminium cantilever. A meaningful improvement over the Carbon in detail and tonal accuracy.
The most popular MM upgrade for Planar 2 and Planar 3 owners. The Nd5 uses a nude elliptical diamond — not bonded but cut from a single piece of diamond — mounted in a glass-filled PPS body. The improvement in clarity and bass definition over the Nd3 is clearly audible.
A fine line nude diamond stylus on an aluminium cantilever. The fine line profile traces the groove wall with greater precision than an elliptical, recovering more high-frequency information and reducing groove wear. The Nd7 is an excellent choice for serious MM listeners.
Rega's reference MM cartridge. Fine line nude diamond on a boron cantilever — boron being stiffer and lighter than aluminium, improving transient accuracy and detail retrieval. The Nd9 extracts a level of information from the groove that genuinely challenges entry-level moving coil designs. Recommended for the Planar 6 and above.
Moving Coil Cartridges
Moving coil (MC) cartridges require a phono stage with MC capability — either a dedicated MC phono stage or a step-up transformer. The lower moving mass of the MC design produces faster transient response and greater detail retrieval than equivalent MM designs.
Rega's entry MC. Hand-wound micro coil, elliptical stylus, and a rigid PPS body. The Ania is a natural partner for the Planar 6, and transforms the performance of a Planar 3 for those willing to invest in an MC phono stage.
The Ania Pro adds a vital profile nude diamond stylus and a more powerful neodymium magnet. Noticeably more refined than the Ania in terms of high-frequency detail and soundstage precision. Ideal for the Planar 6 and Planar 8.
Fine line nude diamond, aluminium cantilever, hand-wound micro coil. The Apheta 3 is the cartridge Rega supplies with their high-end system builds and is optimised for the Planar 8 and Planar 10.
Rega's reference cartridge — handmade in limited numbers in Southend. Boron rod cantilever, the world's most powerful miniaturised neodymium magnet, and a zero-tolerance black anodised aluminium body. The Aphelion 2 is designed for the Planar 10 and Naia, and represents the absolute ceiling of Rega's cartridge thinking.
Rega Phono Stages: Completing the Analogue Chain
Unless your amplifier has a built-in phono stage, you'll need a separate one. Even if it does, a dedicated external phono stage will almost certainly improve on it. Rega makes phono stages at every level to match their turntable and cartridge range.
Rega Fono Mini A2D — £115
Moving magnet only, with a useful USB output for digitising your vinyl collection directly to a computer. The ideal companion for the Planar 1 or Planar 1 Plus where the built-in phono stage has been bypassed in favour of a better external one, or for those who want to archive their records.
Rega Fono MM MK5 — £230
Rega's core moving magnet phono stage — multi-award winning and a perennial recommendation from the audio press. Simple, quiet, and musically engaging. The natural partner for the Planar 1, 2, and 3 with an MM cartridge. If you want a standalone MM phono stage that simply works brilliantly, this is it.
Rega Fono MC MK4 — £290
Moving coil capability at a very accessible price. Fully adjustable loading to suit different MC cartridges. The natural first phono stage for Ania owners on the Planar 3 or Planar 6 — providing MC gain without significant investment.
Rega AOS MC Phono Stage — £1,500
A significant step forward — the AOS circuit is based directly on Rega's reference Aura design, providing reference-level MC amplification at a far more accessible price. Adjustable gain and loading, factory pre-set for Rega MC cartridges, and an automatic standby function. Compatible with all typical low-output moving coil cartridges.
The AOS is the phono stage we'd recommend for Planar 8 and Planar 10 owners, and for anyone with an Ania Pro or Apheta 3 cartridge who wants a phono stage that won't limit their investment.
Read our full review of the Rega AOS on the Martins Hi-Fi blog
Rega Aura MC — £4,620
Rega's reference phono stage — a three-stage symmetrical pre-amplifier design offering the lowest noise floor and highest resolution Rega achieve in a phono stage. The Aura is the natural partner for the Aphelion 2 and Naia, and represents one of the finest moving coil phono stages available at its price.
Putting It All Together: Our Recommended System Combinations
Choosing the right combination of turntable, cartridge, and phono stage makes a significant difference to the end result. Here are our most frequently recommended pairings:
Starter System
- Rega Planar 1 — £329
- Rega Fono MM MK5 — £230
- Carbon cartridge included
Total: approx. £559 — Everything you need for serious vinyl playback from day one.
Mid-Range System
- Rega Planar 3 — From £695
- Rega Nd5 cartridge — £295
- Rega Fono MM MK5 — £230
Total: approx. £1,220 — A genuinely capable analogue system that will reveal the quality of your records.
Serious Analogue System
- Rega Planar 6 — From £1,280
- Rega Ania Pro cartridge — £865
- Rega AOS MC Phono Stage — £1,500
Total: approx. £3,645 — A system at which vinyl playback becomes genuinely revelatory.
Reference System
- Rega Planar 10 — From £4,370
- Rega Aphelion 2 cartridge — £3,640
- Rega Aura MC Phono Stage — £4,620
Total: approx. £12,630 — One of the finest all-Rega analogue systems you can build.
Frequently Asked Questions
Do I need a phono stage?
Unless your amplifier has a phono input labelled "PHONO" (not a line input), yes. Most modern amplifiers and AV receivers do not include a phono stage. The Rega Planar 1 Plus has one built in — all other Planar models require a separate phono stage or an amplifier with one.
Which cartridge is right for my turntable?
As a general guide: Planar 1 and 2 are best matched with the Carbon, Nd3, or Nd5. The Planar 3 suits the Nd5, Nd7, Nd9, or Ania. The Planar 6 onwards benefits from the Ania, Ania Pro, or Apheta 3. The Planar 10 and Naia are designed around the Aphelion 2. We're always happy to advise based on your specific situation.
Can I upgrade my existing Rega?
Almost certainly, yes. Rega's consistent tonearm mounting dimensions mean that tonearm upgrades are straightforward, and cartridge and phono stage upgrades work with any generation of the range. It's one of the things that makes Rega such a satisfying long-term investment.
Do you set up Rega turntables before delivery?
Yes — when you buy from us, we check alignment and setup before your turntable leaves us. We're also happy to advise on setup if you've bought elsewhere. Call us on 01603 627010.
Come and Hear Rega with Us
The best way to understand what a Rega turntable can do is to hear one. We have Rega playing regularly in our Norwich showroom across different system configurations, and we're happy to let you bring your own records and spend time listening before you decide.
We carry the full Rega range — turntables, cartridges, phono stages, tonearms, and amplifiers — and our team has the knowledge and experience to help you find the right combination for your budget and the way you listen.
Martins Hi-Fi
85-91 Ber Street, Norwich NR1 3EY
01603 627010
info@martinshifi.co.uk
Browse the full Rega range at Martins Hi-Fi
